ARTICLE BY JOY SHI
PHOTOS BY CHRIS MOLINA of Coachella 2014, Weekend 2
Another year, another Coachella. With a Bey and Jay sighting just one week ago - things could only go downhill for Weekend two fans, really. But we shouldered up and braced for it anyways. And we got Beck covering Arcade Fire, Toro Y Moi, and Win Butler on the megaphone leading the drum circle again. Sooo, let’s just remember the good then, shall we?
FRIDAY
Friday’s early highlights included zesty Aussie quintet The Preatures, whose groovy throwback pop happened way too early in the heat for anyone’s liking. But they still managed to hook listeners thanks to a big help from singer Isabella’s eye-dropping sheer crop top (no bra visible for miles and miles). ZZ Ward won over new fans en masse with her funky soul at the Mojave, playing harmonica with an expression that read “What, like you’ve never seen a girl do that before? Please.”
Haim and AFI rightfully rocked the festival’s outdoor stages that both groups were born to play, while Bastille seemed out of place on a stage that was at once too big and too small for them. Ellie Goulding surprised many a passive listener when she held down the main stage like a true pop star holding court. The highly anticipated Broken Bells performance did not fail to disappoint, and Chromeo’s electrofunk set was sheer dance-hall heaven, with a surprise guest appearance by Toro Y Moi. Show of the night went to The Knife, because they actually cared to put on a show, unlike Girl Talk (inviting partyers to dance onstage doesn’t cut it man), but of course, everyone was too busy waiting on Outkast to play “Hey Ya” to notice.
SATURDAY
Overall, Saturday fared a lot better. Banks and Chvrches held stages beautifully in the early afternoon. Julian Casablancas’ set was simultaneously alienating and wonderful and magical at the same time when he played the occasional Strokes hit. Troopers Capital Cities and Future Islands played solid sets to no one’s surprise or real caring. Pharrell was a hit, and Weekend 2 fans praised Hov when one half of the Rockafella empire made a second Coachella appearance (no repeat of Beyonce at Solange, sadly). While the crowd at Empire of the Sun turned into too grotesquely obese a moshpit to enjoy the show, hands down best show of the day went to Foster the People, Sleigh Bells, and Muse (their set was an exact replica of their world tour for anyone wondering).
SUNDAY
So did Arcade Fire fake-out Daft Punk to punk their fans or was it some bigger symbolic gesture of drawing the curtains over the whole festival VIP scene? Who cares? They played a killer set a second weekend in a row and stayed long after the show to bring a drum circle into a crowd of their adoring, die-hard fans. We'll let you decide. Backtracking a bit, AlunaGeorge and The Naked and Famous were phenomenal in spite of the last day heat. While Neutral Milk Hotel’s reunion confused many a passerby, Lana Del Rey redeemed her entire past (SNL and botox and everything) with a spell-binding set that stood the test of playing right next to Disclosure. Beck's set wasn't what we imagined it to be. At all. What we had in mind was far from a Michael Jackson cover, but we'll take it.
See you again next year, desert.
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